Tim woke up slowly. He felt well rested, and he wanted to cling onto that feeling. It was warm, he should go back to sleep, he probably needs it.

  Except. His bed was odd. It wasn’t his bed at either his apartment or his childhood bedroom. It wasn’t his couch, or any other place he had been before.

  He shot up, panicked. Blurry memories came back to him. The warmth surrounding him was the Bats.

  He pushes himself away. Mr. Wayne gently holds his arms, keeping him from leaving. “Hold on there, Tim.” The way he says his name has a strange quality to it.

  Tim’s sure his scales are happy, but he can’t feel them. He hears Dick snort and realizes that he’s holding Tim’s scales. “Aww, your scales are so sweet, baby bird!” In a flurry of swirling wind, Dick’s scales are in his other hand.

  Mr. Wayne draws Tim’s attention back towards him while Dick continues chattering in the background. “Tim, we need to discuss your new arrangements and how to proceed with your situation” Mr. Wayne begins, wings framing his face and eyes less dilated than last night.

  Knowing he does need this discussion, Tim agrees, “Of course Mr. Wayne.”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Just call me Bruce, Shadow, or any other nickname you’re comfortable with.”

  So it turns out that Judges have very strong instincts. And they latch on particularly hard to family, which Tim apparently classifies as now.

  Additional note, while Tim doesn’t have those instincts, he can still experience a weaker version of them when he’s holding onto his scales (don’t ask how he found that one out).

  So now Tim’s consistently being dragged into cuddle piles and is dragged behind one of the others whenever they go anywhere. The only one he’s rarely alone with is Damian, who is the only one present younger than him.

  He’s probably worrying the Justice League. He hasn’t had much time with his phone, only having enough time to send out an apology and let them know he’d been found by the Judges.

  That would probably come back to bite him later.

  He’s been manhandled into Dick’s lap on the large chair in front of the massive computer. The Judge is one of the worst about dragging him into inescapable hugs.

  Bruce has changed into his armor and returned to them. “Tim, we’re bringing you to tag along with us for patrol tonight. We can let you get familiar with our routes and with the terrain.”

  Before Tim can respond in any measure, Dick is jumping in, “We got you a basic suit to start with! We can help you personalize it more when you settle into your role!” Dick doesn’t let him give his input as he carries Tim away like a teddy bear, chattering all about all the different things they could do with his suit, wings twitching in excitement.

  Tim is very sure this will come back to bite him. No doubts on that.

  https://archiveofourown.org/users/Your_Local_Eldritch_Horror